Donovans 02 - Jade Island

it.”
    “Not much help there.” Kyle breathed deeply, inhaling Lianne’s scent. Between the jade erotica and the warm woman, his body was in testosterone overload. “Any chance I could further my education by getting into the Tang vault and comparing the jades?”
    She shook her head. “No one outside of immediate family—and me, of course—has ever been allowed into the vault. But I might be able to bring you a selection of erotica, if that’s what you want.”
    “I want to learn nuances. If erotica helps, I’m all eyes and tongue.”
    Lianne hid her smile and hoped Kyle couldn’t sense the too-rapid beating of her pulse. She had discussed and acquired erotica for several clients, including Han Seng, without being in the least disturbed by the nature of the pieces.
    It was different with Kyle. She didn’t know why. Shejust knew it was. Not that she was uncomfortable or embarrassed, except with her own unruly thoughts. She kept thinking about what it would be like to lie sated, watching Kyle as he admired the one square inch they had so recently enjoyed.
    “But I have to admit,” he said, “I’m having a hard time seeing Wen Zhi Tang as a collector of jade erotica.”
    “It isn’t his first passion, but he never passes up a chance to increase the breadth or upgrade the quality of his grandfather’s and his great-great-grandfather’s collection of erotica. They had superb taste, by the way. Many of their acquisitions are, quite simply, art.”
    “Like Bride Dreaming?”
    Lianne closed her eyes and saw in her mind the utter relaxation of the sculpture, the sated smile, the softly swollen lips, the rare cat’s-eye shine of the jade between the bride’s thighs.
    “Yes,” she said in a husky voice. She cleared her throat. “Like Bride Dreaming.”
    Hastily she picked up the next jade, which was resting in a silk-lined lacquer box. The sculpture was slightly longer than her hand and in the shape of an erect penis. She turned the piece over, noted the quality of the stone and the carving, and returned it to the box.
    Kyle leaned over Lianne’s bent head and tried not to notice the fragile, very female scent that curled into his nostrils. “You’re not talking.”
    She froze, then relaxed. He was so close to her ear that his breath stirred wisps of her hair against her skin, raising goose bumps. “Not much to talk about. That’s either a device to instruct prostitutes in fellatio or a rather uninspired sculpture, or both.”
    “I suppose the Tang vault has a better one?”
    “Offhand, I can think of at least five. The jade stem was a favorite subject of erotica as well as, possibly, a ritual object in ancient times.”
    Rapidly Lianne finished surveying the jade pieces Senghad offered in trade. Nothing she saw made her feel better about the trade she had been told to carry out.
    Kyle sensed Lianne’s increasing tension and wondered what was bothering her. As she put aside each jade, she made quick, almost slashing notes. After the last one, she flipped to a new page and wrote quickly. When she was finished, she ripped out the sheet and left it on the conference table.
    “You haven’t said anything for fifteen minutes,” he pointed out.
    “Add it to what I already owe you.”
    With tight, jerky motions she stashed the tablet, magnifying glass, and pen back in her big purse. As she shouldered her bag, she tried not to think how angry the Tangs would be with her.
    But she was damned if she would put her name on the bottom line of such a thinly disguised bribe.
    “Aren’t you supposed to take this jade back with you?” Kyle asked, gesturing to the pieces Lianne had just examined.
    “Yes.”
    “Then we’d better round up some packing material.”
    “That won’t be necessary.” Lianne picked up the smaller of the two boxes that she had brought with her. “Get the other one, would you?”
    Kyle’s eyebrows shot up, but he did as she asked. “Now what?”
    “Now we leave.”
    “No trade?”
    “Not as far as I’m concerned.”
    “How will Seng feel about it?”
    “Like he was shown a ham and given a weenie.”
    Kyle grunted. Behind the cover of the box he had picked up, he drew his gun and flicked off the safety. Only then did he head out of the conference room.
    Lianne was close on his heels as he strode down the hall. Neither of them bothered to say good-bye to the guard who was still seated near the front door.
    Just as they opened the door, someone started yelling from the